Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466)

gigatos | January 31, 2022

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Summary

The Thirteen Years” War – a war fought between the state of the Teutonic Order and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in the years 1454-1466, started as a result of Poland”s support for the creation of the Prussian Union against the Teutonic Order, ending with the victory of the Kingdom of Poland and the Second Peace of Thorn.

The uprising of the Prussian Union, an organization of middle-class noblemen and burghers led by the patricians of Gdansk, Torun, Elblag and Chelmno against the Teutonic Order led by Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen, which began on February 4, 1454, was supported on April 21, 1454 by the Kingdom of Poland, whose king was Casimir IV Jagiellon. The unionists captured all the cities and castles of the Teutonic Order, except for the capital Malbork and Chojnice. The defeat of the Polish expedition, in a clash with the Order”s army consisting of Czech and German mercenaries in the battle of Chojnice on September 18, 1454, started a Teutonic counter-offensive, as a result of which the Order retook most of the cities and fortresses, including Konigsberg, which was finally captured on July 14, 1455. Lack of money for further financing of mercenary troops stopped the progress of the Order”s counter-offensive, and the failure to pay off the debts to the Teutonic Knights resulted in the sale of the Malbork fortress to the Polish king on 8 June 1457 by Czech mercenaries as his crew. Casimir IV raised the necessary funds by increasing the privileges of the Polish nobility in exchange for high taxes and by granting the so-called Great Privilege to Gdańsk on 15 May 1457 in exchange for a high loan. The Order moved its capital to Królewiec in July 1457 and, taking advantage of the discontent of the population exhausted by war and discouraged by increased taxes, between 1457 and 1461 captured a number of fortresses on the lower Vistula and Łyna rivers, together with the cities of Malbork and Chełmno, paralysing the Vistula trade of Pomeranian towns.

In response, beginning in October 1459, the Polish and union sides organized a system of armed convoys on the Vistula, deployed a caper fleet to block the Teutonic Order”s sea coast, and resigned from the expeditions of the common march, allocating all financial resources to the hiring of mercenaries. The command was taken over by Piotr Dunin, the burgrave of Cracow, who at the head of a small but well-trained army launched an offensive in October 1461, aiming at cutting off Western Pomerania from Prussia, and on 17 September 1462 won a breakthrough victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Świecin. In the sea battle on the Vistula Lagoon (Bay of Swiecin), which was victorious for the unionists, on 15 September 1463 the Teutonic fleet was destroyed by the fleets of Gdañsk and Elbl±g, which made it impossible for the grand master to deliver aid to the besieged Teutonic strongholds on the Vistula River. After the fall of Gniew, Nowe and Starogard and the capitulation of Chojnice, the last Teutonic stronghold in Pomerania, on September 28, 1466, the financially ruined Teutonic Order agreed to accept peace terms. Under the Second Peace of Thorn, signed on December 31, 1466, the Order had to relinquish half of the Prussian lands (Gdansk Pomerania, Chelmno Land, Michalow Land, and Warmia), and from the remaining lands pay homage to the Kingdom of Poland.

The Thirteen Years” War accelerated the decay of the Teutonic Order, allowed the Polish nobility to gain far-reaching privileges and a decisive role in the Kingdom of Poland at the expense of the weakened bourgeoisie, and led to the emancipation of Gdansk and laid the foundation for its rapid development.

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Polish-Teutonic conflict over Pomerania

The conflict between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order over Pomerania dates back to the early 14th century. The Order, expanding its possessions in Prussia, conquered the right bank of the lower Vistula, the basins of the Łyna, Pregoła and Nogat in the 13th century, building a number of fortresses and founding new cities – Toruń (Thorn) in 1231, Chelmno (Culm) in 1232, Elblag (Elbing) in 1237 and Königsberg (Königsberg) in 1286. In 1308, taking advantage of the civil war in Poland, the Order seized Gdansk (Danzig) and established a new capital in Malbork (Marienburg). This annexation resulted in a protracted Polish-Teutonic war which ended with the signing of the peace of Kalisz in 1343. As a result, the Kingdom of Poland agreed to separate Poland and Pomerania, but the Teutonic Knights were forced to recognise Casimir III the Great and his successors as the founders and donors of the Order in Pomerania and Chełmno Land. This allowed the Order to maintain the legal principle of sovereignty, resulting from the endowments of Conrad of Mazovia to the Order fighting against the pagans. The Order”s recognition of the Polish king”s honourable sovereignty over the disputed lands made it possible for Casimir III the Great to argue to the pope in 1357 that those lands belonged to the archdiocese of Gniezno and the Kingdom of Poland, and in 1364 to request exemption from all oaths made under the threat of war which were unjust to the Kingdom of Poland.

In the middle of the 14th century Poland and the Teutonic Order were not interested in renewing the conflict, which was confirmed by the leaders of both countries, King Casimir III the Great of Poland and Grand Master of the Order Winrych von Kniprode, at the congress in 1366 in Malbork. The main goal of the state of the Teutonic Order was to occupy the entire south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and obtain a land connection between the two parts of the state – Prussia and Livonia. To this end, the Teutonic Knights put armed pressure on the Lithuanian Zmudja separating them, taking advantage of Lithuania”s involvement in the south and east. In 1348 the Teutonic Knights won a decisive victory over the Lithuanian-Ruthenian coalition at the Battle of Strava. The Baltic policy of the Teutonic Knights was part of a broader context of control of the Baltic coast by German-derived merchant and monastic associations in the 14th century.

In the middle of the 14th century Gdansk became a major trading center and the largest port of the Teutonic state in Prussia.

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The consequences of the Lithuanian-Polish union

The Polish-Teutonic conflict was renewed after the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania concluded a personal union in Krevo in 1385, which resulted in the baptism of Lithuania and the assumption of the throne in Krakow by the Lithuanian Prince Jogaila. The baptism of the last pagan state in Eastern Europe shook the ideological foundation of the development of the Teutonic Order”s state, and Poland and Lithuania, strengthened by the alliance, began to strive for restitution of the lands occupied by the Teutonic Knights – Pomerania, Chelmno Land (Poland) and Samogitia (Lithuania). In addition, since 1397 the Teutonic Order, together with the German Hansa, had to face revindication pressure from the Nordic countries, which after the Danish victory in the war between Margaret I and Albrecht Mecklenburg concluded the anti-German Kalmar Union. In 1408, after a 10-year conflict, Malbork had to return the island of Gotland, captured in 1402 in response to the Kalmar union, to Denmark, so as not to be forced into a war on two fronts (against the Polish-Lithuanian union and against the Kalmar union) in a conflict with Poland and Lithuania.

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Weakening of the Teutonic Order”s state at the beginning of the 15th century

After the great war with the Teutonic Order ended with the Peace of Torun in 1411, the state of the Teutonic Order fell into a deep internal crisis. In the battle of Grunwald the Teutonic army and its German reinforcements were destroyed, destroying forever the military advantage of the organization over the Polish Kingdom, which resulted in the surrender of some cities (including Gdansk and Torun) to King Wladyslaw II Jagiello. Moreover, the loss of Samogitia resulted in the re-division of the monastic state into two separate territories – the Prussian state on the Vistula and the Pregoła rivers and the Livonian state on the Dvina and Narva rivers.

Taking advantage of the retreat of the Polish-Lithuanian coalition army from Malbork in September 1410 and the conclusion of peace, the Teutonic Knights managed to regain control over the rebellious cities, brutally cracking down on anti-Jacket opposition in Gdansk. However, subsequent wars between the Polish-Lithuanian Union and the state of the Teutonic Order (the Hunger War of 1414, the so-called Reverse Expedition of 1419, the Golub War of 1422, the Polish-Teutonic War of 1431-1435, the so-called Nieszawa War of 1431-1435), which broke out as a result of differences in understanding the provisions of the (small) First Toruń Peace, led to a further weakening of the Teutonic Order. The Order, no longer having its own strong army, was not able to resist the devastating raids of the Polish and Lithuanian armies (chevauchée”) on the territory of the Order”s state and was limited only to maintaining the most important strongholds.

At the end of the long reign of Wladyslaw Jagiello there was a devastating Polish expedition (supported by the Hussites) to the New March and Gdansk Pomerania in 1433, The decisive defeat of the coalition forces of the Livonian-Ruthenian-Tartar armies against the Polish-Lithuanian army at the Battle of Wiłkomierz on the Šešupė River in 1435, in which the entire military and political leadership of the Livonian state perished, induced the Teutonic Order to conclude a final peace treaty. According to the provisions of the Perpetual Peace in Brześć Kujawski on December 31, 1435, the leadership of the Teutonic Order agreed to never again interfere in the internal affairs of Lithuania and Poland and to surrender the disputed strongholds (Nieszawa) and, moreover, to place the foreign policy of the Order under the control of the Prussian states. As a consequence, the burghers and middle nobility of the Teutonic Knights” state gained the right to terminate their obedience to the Teutonic Knights” master if he violated the provisions of the peace in Brześć Kujawski. This enabled the emergence of an organized opposition of Prussian towns and nobility against the Teutonic Order.

Prussian Union

The first organization of the Prussian nobility in opposition to the Teutonic Order – the Lizard Society – was broken up by the Teutonic Knights after 1410, but the wars ruining the Teutonic Order”s state and the high cost of hired mercenaries resulted in increasing fiscal oppression of the towns and small Prussian nobility, hampering the development of trade. At the same time, the opportunities for advancement in the hierarchy of the Teutonic Order remained attractive among the younger sons of the German magnates and attracted career-minded aristocrats to the lower Vistula and Pregoła rivers. The local population treated the newcomers with increasing reluctance.

In the first half of the fifteenth century economic ties between the various regions of Europe strengthened, and the continent, having overcome the economic crisis of the fourteenth century, developed trade. In view of the poor quality of land routes and imperfect means of transport, the most convenient trade routes were the main rivers. The development of the cities of Pomerania and Prussia depended on the access of goods from the Polish and Mazovian hinterland, while at the same time the nobility of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania looked for favorable markets and trade routes along the Vistula and Niemen rivers. However, the Teutonic Order”s tariff barriers and fiscal oppression of the markets hampered trade, and the Order”s sovereignty became less and less advantageous for the burghers and small nobility.

In response to Malbork”s policy, the towns and noblemen of Pomerania, Chełmno Land and Prussia, meeting at conventions, demanded a share in the governance of the Teutonic Knights” state and refused to pay taxes; in 1435, they were recognised as the guarantors of the Order”s compliance with the Peace of Brest. In 1440, the Prussian states established an organization in opposition to Malbork which represented their interests – the Prussian Union.

The leadership of the Teutonic Order counteracted by seeking to break up the union opposition. The conflict intensified after the election of Ludwig von Erlichshausen as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1450. The new Grand Master filed a complaint to the papal tribunal against the union, to which the unionists, led by Jan Bazynski, responded with an appeal to Emperor Frederick III.

On December 5, 1453, with the verdict issued in Wiener Neustadt, the Emperor condemned the Prussian Union and ordered its dissolution under the threat of severe repressions. In an atmosphere of bitterness over the unjust verdict, the unionists began secretly arming themselves, decided to take action against the Teutonic Knights, and turned for help to King Casimir IV Jagiellon.

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The first phase of the uprising – anti-Turkish rebellion in Pomerania and Powisle

Eventually, the cities and nobles of Pomerania and Prussia made their choice of further political path in the form of an act of self-determination. The secret council of the Prussian Union considered turning to the king of Bohemia and Hungary for help and protection, and the port cities were inclined to consider submitting themselves to the protection of the king of Denmark. However, the opinion of the members of the former Jaszczurcz Union, representatives of Chelmno Land and Powisle Land, to start treaties with the Kingdom of Poland prevailed.

The chancellor of the Kingdom of Poland, Jan from Koniecpole and treasurer Hińcza from Rogów, as well as the Primate Wladyslaw from Oporow and the governors of the lands bordering with the Teutonic Order, Lukasz Gorka and Mikolaj from Szeleja, were in favour of supporting the Prussian Union, but Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki was against it. Before the king made his final decision, on February 4, 1454, an anti-Teutonic uprising broke out in Prussia. In Chełmża several Teutonic dignitaries were imprisoned who were heading for a meeting with representatives of the Prussian Union, and on February 4, 1454 the attack on the Teutonic castle in Toruń began. Blocked by the townspeople and under artillery fire, the garrison of the fortress capitulated on February 7, 1454. On the same day the town council of Gdańsk officially informed the local komtur of declaring obedience to the Order after the inhabitants of Gdańsk had seized the Great Mill on February 5, 1454 and prepared artillery and assault equipment for the attack on the Teutonic stronghold. The grand treasurer of the Order arrived in Krakow equipped with 50 thousand red zlotys with the intention of bribing selected members of the Crown Council and persuading them to reject the proposal of the Prussian Union. Eventually, seeing little chance of success in this mission, the treasurer left for Saxony, using the funds at his disposal to recruit mercenaries.

The success of the uprising in Toruń caused a widespread atmosphere of open revolt – on February 8, 1454 the inhabitants of Birgelau (Bierzgłowo), Graudenz (Grudziądz), Althaus (Starogród) and Mewe (Gniew) captured local Teutonic castles, killing or forcing to flee the members of their garrisons. At the same time the Torun insurgents captured the fortress in Bischöflich Papau (Papowo Biskupi) and then the Torun city council extended the uprising to the whole Chelmno Land and assisted the local insurgents in capturing the Teutonic castles in Rehden (Radzyń) and Schwetz (¦wiecie) and Gollub (Golub). The komtur of the besieged fortress in Brodnica (Strasburg), seeing no possibility of further defence against the insurgents, surrendered the castle to the Polish Voivode of Inowrocław, Jan of Koscielec.

The castle of the Teutonic Knights in Danzig surrendered to the insurgents on February 11, 1454, without resistance, after the Teutonic Knights had promised the Teutonic crew a payment from the city”s finances, which enabled the insurgents operating from Danzig to help other cities rebelling against the Teutonic Knights and asking Danzig for support; on February 9 the Teutonic Knights were removed from Skarszewy, on February 13, 1454 from Bütow (Bytow), and the uprising broke out also in Preussisch Stargard (Starogard). Military contingents from Gdañsk entered Dirschau (Tczew) and Bern (Koscierzyna). The uprising campaign led from Gdañsk then spread to Hammerstein (Czarne) and Preussisch Friedland (Debrzno) in southern Pomerania and along the Baltic coast to Lauenburg (Lebork), Leba, Putzig (Puck) and Hel.

However, the garrison of the fortress in Elbl±g, despite the absence of its komtur Henrich von Plauen, put up a fierce resistance and the Elbl±g insurgents captured the castle only on 12 February 1454, after several day and night storms. On the same day the Prussian Holland (Paslek) capitulated and thus, after eight days of uprising, 17 key Powisle strongholds came under the control of the Prussian Union. The captured Teutonic castles in Gdañsk, Toruñ and Elbl±g were immediately demolished in a planned manner by the city councils in order to prevent the establishment of a power independent of the city council in the cities.

The uprising in Pomerania ended with the capture of Schlochau (Człuchów) by the insurgents on 26 February 1454 and the defeat of the relief organized by the Teutonic Order in Germany at Chojnice, which ended with the capture of the town. In the Chelmno Land all classes stood up in solidarity against the Teutonic Knights” rule, but in Gdansk Pomerania the resolute anti-Teutonic Knights” actions were mainly inspired by the bourgeoisie, while the knighthood was characterized by a hesitant attitude.

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Phase II of the uprising – development of the uprising in Prussia

Directed from the insurgent center in Elbl±g, the action of the Prussian Union led to the capture of Nowy Staw, Dzierzgon, Pasleka and Mi³om³yn, conquering a large part of the fertile ¯u³awy Wi¶lane. The news of the rebels” successes and the Grand Master”s passivity encouraged the population of subsequent districts to take a stand against the Teutonic Knights; the inhabitants of Warmian towns, against the stance taken by the local bishop, captured Braunsberg (Braniewo) and plundered Balga. Deutsch Eylau (Ilawa) joined the Prussian Union three days before the outbreak of the anti-Teutonic uprising, and insurgents operating from Löbau in Westpreussen (Lubawa) captured Leutenburg (Lidzbark Welski) and Osterode (Ostróda). The crew of the Konigsberg fortress repulsed several assaults, however after destroying four towers and a considerable part of the walls they surrendered the castle to the insurgents. The Königsberg insurgents then captured Labiau (Labiava) and Ragnit (Regneta) as well as Kreuzburg (Krzyzbork), Schippenbeil (Sepopol) and Barten (Barciany). Uprisings broke out from Wormditt (Orneta), Heilberg (Lidzbark Warmiński) and Rastenburg (Kętrzyn).

The absence of particular komturs from the castles, who left for Malbork for a meeting on the Grand Master”s order, facilitated the spread of the uprising. The Teutonic knights from the districts engulfed by the uprising, not trying to put up resistance, also tried to get to the Teutonic capital or fled to Germany and were killed by the insurgents on the way. Some of the Teutonic Knights who could not reach Malbork found shelter in the fortress in Sztum which was maintained by the Order.

On February 17 the blockade of Marienburg (Malbork), the main Teutonic Order stronghold, which guarded the junction of routes going through the Zulawy Wislane, began. Commanded by a member of the Gdansk city council Ewald Wrige, the Gdansk troops, consisting of several thousand soldiers supported by artillery, garrisoned the left bank of the Nogat river, while the right bank of the river was blocked by troops detached from other cities belonging to the union. The union forces cut off the Teutonic capital”s contact with the outside world.

The effects of the anti-Teutonic Knights uprising

The involvement of representatives of all Prussian states in the uprising made the anti-Teutonic Knights” uprising a rapid success. The fact that free town dwellers and some peasants joined the revolt made it impossible for the Teutonic Knights to defend their fortresses without crews. Without any support from the Prussian population, the Teutonic Knights did not have the courage to take action, and the cowardice of the Order”s representatives encouraged other groups to rise up.

The union side”s successes were obtained largely by surprise and by engaging the insurgent population, which was free from occupation during the winter. However, the insurgents were not suitable for warfare far from their cities, and with the start of the spring sailing season many residents of the port cities found lucrative work on ships. Further operations by the city councils of the Prussian Union had to be carried out with the help of mercenaries.

At the same time, the spread of the uprising to other social groups and the social character of their anti-Teutonic uprisings worried the patricians of the large cities and the knights of Prussia, as they threatened to lose their power by having to take into account the opinion of the common people. The political struggle for privileges between individual cities and the division of power in the province shattered the original solidarity of the Prussian Union.

The Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen”s change of stance and settlement proposals in the period when individual strongholds were under attack were definitely too late. Initially, the requests for truce and appeals for help addressed by the monastic authorities to Mazovia, Denmark, Sweden and the Silesian principalities had no effect.

On March 6, 1454, after two weeks of negotiations with representatives of the Prussian Union, King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed an act of incorporation of Prussia into the Kingdom of Poland. Prussia retained its local law and state assembly (fees and duties introduced by the Teutonic Knights were abolished. The Prussian nobility was given equal rights with the Polish nobility and merchants were given freedom of trade.

On March 23, 1454 mercenaries recruited by the Order captured Chojnice, which was guarding the route from Germany to Pomerania, where the remnants of the Pomeranian fortress crews loyal to the Grand Master took refuge.

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Christian Europe”s reaction

On May 29, 1453, Turkish forces captured Constantinople, bringing a final end to the Eastern Roman Empire. The fall of Constantinople, dashed hopes of uniting the two factions of Christianity after the Union of Florence, briefly made a big impression on Christian Europe.

In response, Pope Nicholas V attempted to ameliorate the conflicts in Europe and form a Europe-wide anti-Turkish alliance by issuing an appeal to European rulers. Despite the failure of these appeals, the recapture of Constantinople from the hands of the Muslims became the main objective of the pontificate of his successor, Callistus III, elected on April 8, 1455.

The diplomatic efforts of the popes did not bring any results, but they had a negative impact on the image of the Polish Kingdom; European rulers negatively evaluated the start of the war against the Teutonic Order in alliance with the excommunicated Prussian Union, at a time of calls for a crusade in defense of Christianity. King Casimir IV found himself politically isolated. Poland”s isolation deepened in July 1455, when Pope Callistus III threatened to extend excommunication to the allies of the Prussian Union, but European states made no attempt at organized intervention in defense of the Order.

Attempts by the Teutonic Order to obtain an end to the war by diplomatic means proved unsuccessful. The Prussian Union ignored the sentence of banishment issued by Emperor Frederick III on 24 March 1455, arguing that after the incorporation of Prussia into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland it was no longer subject to imperial authority. The interdict imposed by Pope Callistus III on the rebellious provinces did not make a great impression either, since the previous disobedience of the Teutonic Order to the instructions and verdicts of the Holy See and the abuse of curses by popes weakened the significance of this legal measure, although the curse facilitated the Teutonic Knights” propaganda activities.

The diplomatic situation of the Kingdom of Poland improved in May and June 1462, as a result of an agreement with the new king of Bohemia, George of Poděbrady, and the conclusion of agreements breaking the pro-Crusader diplomatic front with Duke Louis IX of Bavaria, leader of the anti-Crusader opposition in the Reich, and the Emperor”s brother, Archduke Albrecht VI of Austria. Emerging from political isolation, King Casimir IV was able to ignore the mission of a papal legate sympathetic to the Teutonic Knights, Archbishop Jerome Lando, who was not allowed into Krakow, and forced the pope to send a new legate, Rudolf of Rüdesheim, who received new instructions.

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German Reich

Despite the general sympathy for the Teutonic Order, the states and cities of the German Reich, especially those belonging to the Hanseatic League, could not afford to intervene in its defence because of the strong economic ties linking them to the cities of the Prussian Union. In the middle of the 15th century the rift between individual Hanseatic cities deepened, making the union unable to take joint political action and limiting itself to fighting over trade privileges and fighting pirates.

Short-term interests also prevented Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, from supporting the Order, as the critical financial situation of the Teutonic Knights forced them to obtain a loan of 40 thousand Rhenish florins from Brandenburg as a pledge for New March. The Elector strengthened his power in the province during the Thirteen Years” War, and the prolonged financial problems of the Order prevented the latter from taking action to regain it.

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Czech Republic

Just before the outbreak of the war, on February 10, 1454, King Casimir IV married Elisabeth Rakuszanka, the older sister of Ladislaus the Sepulchre, who had reigned in Bohemia and Hungary since 1453. Queen Elisabeth was formally heir to the throne in Prague and Buda, as these rights were inherited by her first-born son Ladislaus Jagiellonian, born in 1456. The international situation on the southern border of the Polish Kingdom became considerably complicated in November 1457 with the death of Ladislaus the Sepulchre. Power in Prague was assumed by the leader of the Utraquists, Regent George of Poděbrady, who, concerned about the possible dynastic claims of the Jagiellons, entered into an agreement with the Teutonic Order, making it easier for the Grand Master to recruit mercenaries in Czech lands. At the congress at Glogow in May 1462, the alliances were reversed: George of Poděbrady, reacting to the Pope”s assembling of an anti-Czech coalition of Catholic states, after Casimir IV”s rejection of the proposal to incorporate Catholic Wroclaw, accepted other Silesian acquisitions of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and its actions against the Teutonic Order.

Pope Paul II, in conflict with George of Poděbrady, began in 1465 to form an anti-Czech coalition of Catholic states. To this end, he made strenuous efforts to quickly end the Polish-Teutonic war on the basis of a just settlement of the disputed lands, delegating a new legate, Bishop Rudolf of Rüdesheim, to carry out this mission.

The victory of the moderate Utraquist movement over the radical Táborists in the Hussite Wars in 1434 resulted in the progressive emigration of many Táborists, who feared reprisals, outside the Czech Crown. They were willingly hired as soldiers in European wars and were valued as experts in effective military tactics based on the use of plebeian infantry and the military use of carts.

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Scandinavia

The anti-German Kalmar Union, concluded in 1397 between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, was weakened in 1448 with the accession of the national king Charles Knuttson Bonde to power in Stockholm. The strongest state in the Union, Denmark, however, sought to restore the close union, gaining support from Sweden”s privileged classes. With the reluctance of Swedish commoners, the Kalmar Union, which was severed and renewed several times, could not bring the Scandinavian states dominance in the Baltic.

The incorporation of the Prussian state by the Crown of the Polish Kingdom was received negatively by Denmark, because it opened access to the Baltic Sea to another superpower, reducing the chances for Scandinavian domination. In reaction to the Thirteen Years” War, the Danish king Christian I supported the Teutonic Order in the summer of 1455, and the Danish fleet started fighting the shipping of the Prussian Union. At the same time Denmark claimed part of Livonia-Estonia, hoping to receive the province in exchange for help from the Order.

As a result, Christian I”s rival Swedish king Charles Knuttson, exiled from Sweden in 1456, found refuge in Pomerania and, waiting for an opportunity to resume his fight for the throne in Stockholm, took action against the Teutonic Knights. This and the defeats of the Danish fleet against the ships and capes of the Prussian Union in 1457-1458 led King Christian I to accept the Hanseatic truce brokerage, as a result of which the Teutonic Order”s only active ally withdrew from military action.

In August 1464, Charles Knuttson left Pomerania with his forces and attempted to regain the Swedish throne.

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Pomerania

On 3 January 1455 the Kingdom of Poland concluded a treaty with Eric I, the former ruler of Denmark, dethroned in 1440 and exiled from Gotland in 1449. The death of Eric I in 1459 annulled the Polish-Słupsk alliance and his successor on the ducal throne, Eric II Pomeranian, started a short-lived cooperation with the Teutonic Order, returning Lębork and Bytów to the Teutonic Knights on 10 October 1460, which resulted in the Polish invasion of the Duchy of Słupsk in 1461. In 1462, after the Battle of Swiecin which was victorious for Poland, Eric II again concluded an agreement with Poland, receiving Lębork and Bytów as fiefs.

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Lithuania

Lithuania, which was in a personal union with Poland that resumed in 1444-1445, was divided from Poland by a conflict over the belonging of the borderlands of Volhynia and Podolia. At a congress in Brest the representatives of Poland and Lithuania agreed on a compromise division of the disputed territory, which was favorable to Lithuania, but some Lithuanian leaders advocated the use of Polish involvement in the war with the Teutonic Order to force an adjustment of the settlement in favor of Lithuania.

King Casimir IV Jagiellon opted for a joint military effort of the Jagiellonian Union and made efforts to get Lithuania involved in the war. The Grand Ducal Council was against it. Eventually only Lithuanian court banners of the King Casimir IV Jagiellon, who was also Grand Duke of Lithuania, took part in the military actions on the Prussian state territory.

John Kezgaulo, the starost of Samogitia, showed more understanding for Baltic politics and submitted to the orders of Casimir IV Jagiellon, but his forces were only sufficient to temporarily block the land route from Inflants to Prussia and make occasional raids against the fortress of Memel, which guarded the mouth of the Niemen River.

The Polish historian Wladyslaw Konopczynski was very harsh in his assessment of Lithuania”s attitude (Konopczynski described Lithuania”s negligence as “disturbed not by national, but simply tribal consciousness”), noting that by not cooperating with the Polish ally, Lithuania not only lost the chance to strengthen its position on the Baltic Sea, but by allowing the eastern part of the Prussian state to survive it exposed itself to serious danger in the future.

The Polish-Lithuanian conflict became more acute after the death of the Mazovian princes Siemowit VI and Ladislaus II at the turn of 1461 and 1462. King Casimir IV decided to divide the inheritance of his fiefs by incorporating the Rawskie and Bełsk lands into the Kingdom of Poland, leaving the Sochaczew lands under the rule of Duchess Anna Oleśnicka and ignoring the demands of Lithuania.

Poland”s successes in the final phase of the war deprived Lithuanian policy of any real basis, making it impossible to exert pressure to change the borders inside the Jagiellonian Union. As a result, Lithuania gained no political benefit from its separatist policy.

The union-Poland side

The military system of the Polish Kingdom was formed during the reigns of the last Piasts – Ladislaus the Short (Władysław Łokietek) and Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki), and in this form it survived without significant reforms until the beginning of the Thirteen Years” War. The basis of the army of the kingdom was the levée en masse (common march) of all private landowners, to which everyone was obliged to report with their own weapons and mail (bollards). The clergy did not appear in person, but paid deputies. The mobilization of the common march was slow. Following the example of the expeditions of 1414, 1422, 1430, and 1433, the nobility (knights), upon arriving at the assembly point in an armed camp, made political demands for the confirmation and extension of privileges for their state, the fulfillment of which conditioned their further participation in the war. The knights forming the heavy cavalry were not able to make a systematic effort in besieging towns and protecting trade routes.

The establishment of professional mercenary armies and artillery, present in the army of the Polish Kingdom since the reign of Casimir the Great, depended on the state of finances. The ruin of the royal treasury in the late reign of Ladislaus Jagiello and his son Ladislaus Varna, related to debts resulting from the Hungarian War and the defeat at Varna, prevented King Casimir IV Jagiellon from raising mercenary troops in the first phases of the war. In the second half of the Thirteen Years” War, taxes imposed on the clergy and nobility passed at sejmiks, particularly in Greater Poland, made it possible to create a modern army.

The Kingdom of Poland initially lacked capable and experienced military commanders. The situation changed when the Czech mercenary Oldřych Czerwonka came to the King”s side. The few royal mercenaries were initially commanded by Prandota Lubieszowski, and after his death by Piotr Dunin.

In the first phase of the war, the Prussian Union was taking part in the uprising with the help of a mobilization of townspeople, who surprised the Teutonic Knights in Gdansk, Torun, Elblag and Konigsberg. The citizens also took part in defending the cities of the Prussian Union and in maintaining the city walls. The main seats of the Prussian Union had strong fortifications surrounding the cities.

The Union entrusted the systematic warfare of besieging fortresses and cities held by the Teutonic Order and escorting ships and river convoys to professional soldiers. Money for enlisting mercenaries came from taxing trade.

The attempts of the knights belonging to the Prussian middle nobility organized in the Prussian Union to take action within the levée en masse gave little results in the first two years of the Thirteen Years” War. The declining support for the Prussian Union among the Lower Prussian knights made it impossible to use this form of military activity later.

The mercenaries were commanded by hired professional commanders, among whom the Czech mercenary Jan Skalski and city councilors of the Prussian Union seat cities stood out.

In order to carry out offensive warfare at sea, which consisted in capturing foreign ships and blockading enemy ports, the Prussian Union issued so-called caper lists, authorizing owners and crews of private armed ships to attack foreign ships and coasts “by order of Casimir, king of Poland” in exchange for a substantial part of the capture. The captured ships (bunkers) were escorted to the port of Gdansk. The most prominent capers were Wincenty Stolle and Szymon Lubbelow.

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Teutonic side

The military strength of the Teutonic Order in the 15th century, based on knights holding landed estates and dignitaries serving in heavy cavalry as the Order”s political leadership, was broken by the defeat at Grunwald and never rebuilt. In addition, the outbreak of the uprising in Prussia in February 1454 deprived the Grand Master of control over any part of the Order”s state and the cooperation of the existing subjects, which made it impossible to convene a common movement of landowners. Out of necessity, the Teutonic Order allocated all its financial resources to the recruitment of mercenaries from German countries and Bohemia. The professional mercenary armies constituted both the crews of the Teutonic strongholds and cities and served for systematic warfare in sieges, reliefs and attacks on the union shipping. From the beginning of the war they were commanded by experienced and capable professional commanders Bernard Szumborski (Bernard von Zinberg), Fritz Raweneck (Raveneck), Kaspar Nostyc (Nostitz), Oldrzych (Urlich) Czerwonka and an energetic dignitary of the Teutonic Order, the Grand Master”s nephew and Komtur of Elblag, Henrich Reus von Plauen.

The Order was supported by the Silesian principalities ruled by the german Piasts, who issued their own contingents of professional mercenary troops.

The depletion of financial reserves made it difficult for the Grand Master to continue the war with professional troops, but the Teutonic Knights managed to obtain a steady income from taxes on reconquered monastic lands (especially Sambia) and Teutonic possessions in Germany (baliwats) as well as loans and allowances from the allies. An important source of income for some fortress crews was the looting of ships and convoys carrying goods between the cities of the Prussian Union and racketeering by merchants transporting goods along Prussian rivers. The Teutonic Knights conducted their operations on inland waters with fleets of armed boats, manned with sailors and mercenaries hired by the supporting cities.

As the warfare was prolonged, the Teutonic Order regained support among the common people of some of the towns in the Prussian Union, which made it possible to carry out effective pro-Teutonic plots: a pro-Teutonic faction operating inside the city in favorable circumstances paralyzed the defenses, making it possible for the Order”s troops to recapture the city.

For activities in the Baltic Sea, the Teutonic Order, like the Prussian Union, hired caparisons and also tried to bribe caparisons hired by the cities of the Prussian Union.

Interested in maritime trade with the Teutonic Order and Inflants, the Kingdom of Denmark and the City of Amsterdam were forced, as a result of attacks by the Prussian Union”s capers, to arm ships bound for Teutonic and Inflantic ports. In Denmark, as in Sweden, the individual counties were obliged to field ships with crews at the king”s call. However, systematic actions against enemy shipping were carried out by means of capers.

Warships differed from merchant ships by having a chestpiece – a wooden superstructure – mounted fore and aft on the deck to facilitate boarding or firing on another vessel.

First stage of the war (1454 – autumn 1455): attempt to incorporate the Prussian state

On 21 April 1454, the Kingdom of Poland delivered to the Teutonic Order the act of declaration of war of 22 February 1454, and on 28 May 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon received in Toruń the homage from the Prussian states of the Chełmno Land, annexing the lands of the Teutonic Order to the Kingdom. In the following days, the homage was paid by the Elbląg land states and Prussian bishops (in Elbląg on 10 and 11 June 1454), Gdańsk (16 June 1454), and Lower Prussian states and cities (19 June 1454 in Królewiec). Jan Bażyński (Johannes von Baysen) became the governor.

The Prussian Union mobilized mercenary troops and sent them under the command of the governor”s brother Scibor Bazynski to besiege Malbork, Chojnice, Sztum. On April 1, 1454 the garrison of Malbork under command of komtur von Plauen beat the besiegers at Kaldowo and broke the siege, as well as started attacks on union sailing on Nogat river and destructive raids on Elblag. In May 1454 the Gdansk army under the command of Wilhelm Jordan besieged Malbork again.

Sztum was captured by the Teutonic Knights on August 8, 1454, which made it possible to direct larger forces at the last two strongholds held by the Teutonic Knights: Malbork and Chojnice.

However, the seemingly desperate situation of the Teutonic Order in the summer of 1454 did not reflect the actual balance of power. The kingdom of Poland could not provide substantial help to the Teutonic Knights because it was then in the midst of a deep financial crisis, connected with the ruin of the royal treasury as a result of the unsuccessful war for Hungary conducted by the previous king, Władysław Warneńczyk, and the defeat at the Battle of Varna in Bulgaria in 1444. King Casimir IV Jagiellon could not mobilize mercenary troops, because he would not have the financial means to pay for them, and decided to send against the Teutonic stronghold in Chojnice a mass movement from Wielkopolskie and Kujawskie provinces and court banners.

On the other hand, at the outbreak of war, Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen did not control any part of the Teutonic Order”s state and, as a result, being unable to call a general army, could only count on allied troops and mercenaries. All Teutonic financial resources, including funds obtained from loans and income from Teutonic properties in the German Reich (baliwats), were used for this purpose. About 15 thousand troops mobilized in Bohemia and Germany were put under the command of Bernard Szumborski, an able and experienced commander. The Teutonic Knights were joined by the army of Duke Rudolf of Zagan (1900 men). Since the unionists occupied all the Teutonic sea ports, the only way to bring the hired army to Prussia was a land march through the New March and Pomeranian principalities towards Chojnice, besieged by a mass movement from Wielkopolska and Kujawy.

The nobility of Great Poland, mobilized in a general mobilization at Cerekwica, recognized the uncontrolled rule of the magnates and the predominance of Lesser Poland as the cause of the financial ruin of the Polish Kingdom and, following the example of the war expeditions of 1414, 1419, and 1422, demanded that the ruler grant various privileges. Taking advantage of the difficult situation of King Casimir IV, who was deprived of court troops, she put forward demands for increasing the role of the middle nobility and regional assemblies at the expense of limiting the influence of the oligarchy and the higher clergy on the government of the Polish state in exchange for permission to take part in the expedition. The king”s acceptance of the knights” demands and the issuance of a privilege for the nobles of Greater Poland on September 15, 1454, in Cerekwica, made it possible to take action against Chojnice with the forces of the common march.

On 18 September 1454 the Battle of Chojnice ended with a heavy defeat for the Polish army and showed the superiority of mercenary troops over the common knights” movement – after the first successful attack of the Polish cavalry, in which von Sagan was killed and von Zinnenberg taken prisoner, the Polish offensive broke down in an attempt to capture the Teutonic Knights” Wagenburg, and the army was surprised by the advance of the Chojnice garrison on its wing. The king”s army was shattered and suffered losses exceeding 3500 killed and captured, and the king had to flee.

As a result of the victory at Chojnice, the Teutonic Knights” army gained open access to the Prussian state and the relief of Malbork, and in addition, separate mercenary units were able to garrison the cities and fortresses regained by the Grand Master. At the same time, the prestigious defeat of Casimir IV was a shock to a large part of the towns and knights of Prussia and Pomerania, unconvinced about the new power, and the act of incorporation of the Prussian state was undermined among the states of Europe.

The defeat at Chojnice required energetic actions on the part of Poland in order to maintain the possession, because in the changing conditions the mercenary crews of the strongholds presented exorbitant demands and started requisitions among the townsmen and peasants resulting in unrest and fleeing. It also became more and more difficult for Poland and Torun to maintain contact with Gdansk and Lower Prussia. As a result, more and more towns and fortresses, fearing the Teutonic repressions for their previous betrayal or because of the growing pro-Teutonic sympathies, began to turn over to the side of the Order, and loyalty to the king was maintained only by those strongholds in Pomerania that received military support quickly enough.

On 21 September 1454 the siege of Malbork was lifted, in the Vistula basin after a short siege Tczew surrendered to the Teutonic Knights, without a fight Gniew and Starogard were taken, as well as Iława (15 November 1454) and Tapiawa in the Pregoła basin. King Casimir IV was forced to hand over Lębork and Bytów for life to the Pomeranian Prince Eric II on January 3, 1455, because he was not able to defend the western part of the Gdansk Pomerania. At the same time, the Order”s authorities, not having sufficient means at their disposal to pay the mercenaries” salaries, decided to sign a contract with the commanders of mercenary units on 9 October 1454, guaranteeing future payment by pledge of the towns and fortresses maintained by the mercenaries in return for the mercenaries” consent to further service.

On the orders of Casimir IV, the governor of Samogitia, Jan Kieżgajło, garrisoned the region of Palanga, blocking any possibility of supplying the Teutonic Knights with reinforcements from Livonia.

King Casimir IV tried to counteract the further advances of the Teutonic counter-offensive by organizing an expedition of the Lesser Poland common army to Prussia. This required granting privileges similar to the cerekwicki privileges to the nobles of Lesser Poland and the Ruthenian lands, which took place on 11 and 12 November 1454 in Nieszawa. The resulting expedition was stopped by the Teutonic Knights at Łasin on 18 December 1454. This enabled the Teutonic forces to make an attempt to capture Gdańsk which was thwarted by the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in a skirmish at Biskupia Górka on the outskirts of New Gdańsk on 13 January 1455.

Another expedition of the Grand Master led to the recapture of Działdów from the unionist hands (February 15, 1455), while on March 9, 1455, the Teutonic Knights did not manage to capture either Toruń or Chełmno, because the reinforced unionist garrison thwarted the pro-Teutonic conspiracy in those cities.

The capture by the Teutonic Knights of five of the eleven fortresses guarding the crossing of the lower Vistula enabled the Teutonic Knights” army to manoeuvre freely on both banks of the river, crossing the river and thus attacking any town under the control of the Prussian Union. At the same time it threatened the commercial navigation on the Vistula, cutting off Gdañsk and Elbl±g from Toruñ, Che³mno and the Polish hinterland and, as a consequence, the economic ruin of the towns belonging to the Prussian Union.

In February 1455, the Teutonic Knights” crew from Gniew seized a convoy of ships from Torun and Grudziądz and together with the crew from Tczew built an earth-wooden fort (basteja) on the bank of the Vistula to block the movement of ships on the river. In this situation, the Gdansk City Council decided to introduce a system of armed convoys on April 23, 1455, and the Congress of the Prussian Union in Elbl±g passed a new tax for this purpose in February 1455. It was supported by the patricians (the richest bourgeoisie and representatives of merchants), but opposed by the common people (representatives of craft guilds), among whom disputes about the new fee and the costs of the protracted war caused a wave of dissatisfaction with the policy of the Prussian Union.

As a consequence of this discontent, pro-Teutonic revolts broke out in two of the three main districts of Königsberg (Königsberg) – the Old City and Lipnik (Löbenicht) – on March 24, 1455, and only the port district of Knipawa (Kneiphof) remained loyal to Casimir IV Jagiellon.

On April 7, 1455, the Grand Master led a regional truce with the union garrisons of the fortresses of Starogard and Nowe on the Vistula (who refused to fight when they were not paid their pay in the agreed time) and set out from Malbork at the head of an expedition to homage Lower Prussia. On April 13, 1455, he reached Königsberg and began the siege of Knipawa, and on April 16, 1455, he accepted the homage of the Old Town of Königsberg and Lipnik, and then the homage of Tapiawa (again) and Labiawa in the Pregolese basin, and Regnata and Tylża in the Nemunas basin.

Impressed by these successes, against the position of the city councils of Riga, Dorpat and Revla, the Livonian champion took the side of the Teutonic Order. In response, the Lithuanians led by Kezgaela entered the Order”s territory and seized the castle in Klaipeda (Memel) at the mouth of the Nemunas with small forces.

The Prussian Union tried to come to Knipawa”s aid, but only the April convoys from Gdansk with a small (400 mercenaries) armed assistance reached the port. The May convoys with food were repulsed by von Plauen”s soldiers and on May 25, 1455 the relief organized by the Lower Prussian army (2000 soldiers) under the command of Ramesh Krzykoski was defeated near Iława, Prussia (over 1000 killed and taken prisoner).

Another attempt of Casimir IV to lift the siege of Knipawa in June 1455 failed; the king did not manage to persuade Lithuania to take military action against the Order and an expedition of 1600 mercenaries organized by him and the city of Gdańsk under the command of Jan Skalski proved to be too weak and was limited to capturing the Old Town of Braniewo and Dobre Miasto and ravaging the Balga region. Having obtained reinforcements (600 mercenaries from Inflants and a 1500-strong contingent of Balthasar, Duke of Zagan) von Plauen had 4000 soldiers at his disposal and on 6 July 1455 launched the final assault on Knipawa. On July 14, 1455, the district capitulated on honorable terms.

In July, the Order”s army, attacking from Chojnice, took control of Czarne and Debrzno, on 10 July 1455 the Order”s expedition from Gniewo burnt down Świecie and in August the Teutonic Order took control of Olsztyn and southern Warmia. On the other hand, on 21 July 1455, the Unionists succeeded in burning Frombork and garrisoning the fortified cathedral in that town, and in August they repulsed the Teutonic attack on Welawa (200 Teutonic Knights killed). In September 1455, King Casimir IV organized the largest expedition of the common army to Prussia (30-40 thousand soldiers), but the offensive broke down for the second time on October 7 at the unsuccessfully besieged fortress of Łasin. The ineffectiveness of the mass movement in besieging towns led to the conviction that in the future war should be fought by mercenary troops.

In November 1455 a raid by Teutonic mercenaries from Konigsberg led to the burning of the castle and suburbs of Klaipeda and the retreat of the Lithuanians from the area. Reinforced by 200 mercenaries from Livonia, the Teutonic Knights attacked the Lithuanian town of Palanga in December 1455 and destroyed the Lithuanian earthworks, opening the way from Prussia to Livonia and permanently capturing the second Baltic port after Konigsberg.

The fall of Konigsberg permanently changed the strategic situation of the warring parties: the Teutonic Order managed to regain a port on the Baltic Sea and thus the possibility of sea communication with Livonia and Western Europe and finally take control of the mouth of the Pregel, one of the two great rivers of the Prussian state. This put in a very difficult situation the fortresses on the Pregel and its main tributary, the Lyna, which were still in union hands and caused a decline in the importance and prestige of the Prussian Union in the eastern part of the Teutonic Order”s state. Additionally, the Königsberg fleet went over to the side of the Teutonic Knights, forcing Gdańsk and Elbląg to detach a part of their ships from the Vistula and the Nogat to operate on the Freshwater Bay and the Vistula Lagoon. Furthermore, in 1455 the city council of Gdansk was forced to take military action in the Baltic Sea to paralyze Teutonic trade as well as the supply of food and armaments to the Order.

This success made a great impression on the Warmian chapter, which agreed to the Grand Master”s seizure of bishop”s estates (Olsztyn and Frombork), as well as individual towns of the Prussian Union. The opponents of the Order became despondent, voices were raised about the pointlessness of continuing the war and the lack of prospects for final military success. The attempt to incorporate the monastic state into the Kingdom of Poland ended in failure.

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Phase II of the war (1455-1458): the war of attrition

The crisis was overcome by the unbending attitude of the Pomeranian towns, which, led by Gdañsk and Jan and Scibor Ba¿yñski, were determined to continue the war.

The series of Teutonic successes was stopped by a financial crisis associated with the need to pay mercenary troops, with which the Order conducted military operations. Already in April 1455 the Grand Master”s debt to his own troops exceeded 400,000 Hungarian gold (or 640,000 Prussian grzywnas). The mercenaries did not agree to another extension of repayment and refused to continue warfare, and the lack of prospects for repayment of this amount led to a revolt of the Teutonic mercenaries on May 2, 1455. Czech and German roto-masters at the head of their armies took over the strongholds in Malbork, Tczew and Ilawa as a pledge for the unpaid debts and held the Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen hostage in the Teutonic capital.

In June 1455, after the defeat of the Lower Prussian army in the battle of Ilawa in Prussia, the mercenaries had the largest military force operating in Prussia and could dictate terms to both bankrupted parties of the conflict, they became masters of the situation, and not expecting to recover their debts from the Grand Master, the leader of the rotamen Oldřich (Ulrich) Czerwonka (Oldřich Červenka) made a proposal to sell 21 towns and fortresses maintained by the mercenaries to Poland. In view of the exorbitant demands of the mercenaries and the unsuccessful expedition of the army under Łasin from September to October 1455, the negotiations were protracted. The negotiating situation became more complicated when in December 1455 the Teutonic mercenaries, disappointed with the lack of progress in negotiations with the representatives of the Prussian Union and the Kingdom of Poland, threatened to make an offer to buy the strongholds to all potentially interested parties (apart from the Teutonic Order and the Kingdom of Poland, those were Inflants, Brandenburg, the Pomeranian Duchies, the exiled king of Sweden Karol Knutsson and the bishops of Warmia), in order to hand over the seized strongholds in return for satisfying their claims.

In January 1456. The Teutonic Knights recaptured the fortress in Ryn and took revenge on peasants rebelling against the arbitrariness of the Teutonic crews in the Great Masurian Lakes region. In February 1456 they captured Frombork cathedral and embarked on an unsuccessful expedition to Chełmno Land, during which they suffered defeats at Brodnica and Lubawa. In spring – due to the lack of funds on both sides to continue the war – the military activities on land stopped. Both sides limited themselves to destructive raids by armed boats – on 21 February 1456, the Gdañskites won the skirmish at Tczew (about 25 Teutonic Knights killed and taken prisoner), and from August onwards they attacked Sambia and the region of Balga, which had not yet been destroyed by military operations. On November 1, 1456 the Gdańsk landing force under the command of Henryk von Staden and Michał Ertmann robbing Sambia in the area of Lőchstadt and Rybaki was smashed by the Teutonic Knights” garrison (over 250 killed and taken prisoner, including their commanders).

In February 1456. The Gdansk City Council, after warning the Hanseatic Union, issued caper letters to four more captains, allowing them to attack Teutonic, Livonian and Danish ships and to raid the Teutonic coast. The Danzig landing force (1,000 mercenaries), together with Kieżgajla”s Lithuanians, again garrisoned the Palanga area, cutting the land route from Inflants to Prussia. On March 21, 1456 von Plauen captured the Lithuanian fortifications with a sudden attack.

In June 1456, once again, the unpaid union crews of the strongholds Nowe and Starogard refused to obey orders and began to collect tribute from merchant ships crossing the Vistula River on account of outstanding pay.

After negotiations led by Ba¿yñski and Chancellor Jan Gruszczyñski on the union and Polish side, a treaty was concluded with the mercenaries represented by Czerwonka in Toruñ on 29 July 1456, providing for the handing over of 21 towns and fortresses to Poland in three rounds by 6 December 1456 in exchange for the enormous sum of 436,000 Hungarian zlotys.

In response, the Teutonic commanders Szumborski and von Plauen took advantage of the differences of opinion between the Czech and German rotamers and on August 14, 1456 led to the surrender of 15 strongholds to them by German mercenaries in exchange for ad hoc advances. On August 16, 1456 Czerwonka made a new agreement with the king, which provided for handing over six fortresses (Malbork, Tczew, Ilawa, Chojnice, Czarny and Debrzno), but the crews of the last three fortresses finally let themselves be persuaded to wait for the Teutonic Knights to pay. The Grand Master obtained the funds needed for the advances through a special tax levied in Sambia and a loan received from Inflants (200,000 Hungarian zlotys).

In the summer of 1456 the Lithuanians under Kezgaela”s command fortified themselves once again in Palanga, and on August 5, 1456 the fleet of Gdansk attacked Klaipeda, ravaged the area and began a naval blockade of the city.

In September 1456 an anti-royal rebellion broke out in Toruń against the background of tax collection necessary to pay off the mercenaries, which was suppressed by armed crews of ships guarding Vistula convoys.

The Polish side had a big problem with collecting the amount promised to the mercenaries. King Casimir IV, raising funds, issued to Gdańsk the so-called Great Privilege on May 15 and 25, 1457 granting the city great commercial and judicial rights on the Baltic coast, limiting considerably the royal power and borrowed from Karol Knutson 15 000 grzywnas as a pledge for Puck and Łeba and finally on June 6, 1457 purchased from the mercenaries the city and fortress in Malbork (which the king entered solemnly on June 8) and on June 13 Tczew and Ilawa for a total of 190 000 Hungarian zlotys. Czerwonka became the starost of Malbork and Grand Master Ludwig von Erlichshausen fled to Chojnice.

King Casimir IV granted privileges to Elbląg on 24 August 1457 and to Toruń on 26 August 1457 in exchange for a commitment to continue financing the war effort. Apart from the privileges Toruń was promised to liquidate the rival market in Nieszawa.

In order to extend the success, King Casimir IV organized an expedition of the common people from Wielkopolska and mercenaries (about 1300 people) supported by the Gdansk fleet (a dozen of boats, about 350 mercenaries) under the command of Prandota Lubieszowski against the last stronghold kept by the Teutonic Knights on the Vistula – Gniew (Mewe). The siege which began on July 30, 1457, despite the initial successes (the garrison lacked supplies and the will to fight) ended on September 22, 1457, in failure, due to the treason of a knight from the common march (later sentenced to death by the royal court), who initiated a rebellion in the Polish camp.

During the siege of Gniew, Grand Master von Erlichshausen managed to secretly get on a fishing boat from Chojnice to Królewiec, which he made the new capital of the Order in August 1457, and from there he continued the fight against the king and the Union. He obtained limited but steady funds for this purpose from the newly enacted levies in Sambia; moreover, under pressure from Czerwonka, Bernard Szumborski was finally released from royal captivity and could take command of the Teutonic army. He launched an offensive in the Łyna basin, plundering the area around Welawa and Sępolno and winning the battle of Kinkajmy in which he defeated the union troops from Warmia led by Otto Machwic.

Having recognised the situation in Malbork and having established contact with the Teutonic Knights” inhabitants, Grand Master von Erlichshausen marched to Malbork and on the night of 27-28 September 1457 entered the city and captured it. The immediate assault on the fortress (castle) was repulsed by the fortress crew commanded by Czerwonka. In the following days the Teutonic Knights strengthened their position in the town and started to blockade the fortress, while Czerwonka undertook a harassing shelling of the town from the castle walls. Leaving the situation at a stalemate, Szumborski began an expedition across the ¯u³awy Wi¶lane towards Gdañsk, taking smaller towns, but on October 1, 1457, after a skirmish at Nowy Staw, the march of the Teutonic Knights was stopped by the Gdañsk troops under Lubieszowski, who were defending themselves in a wagenburg formation. The retreat of the Teutonic forces enabled the union troops from Elbl±g and Gdañsk to establish cooperation with the garrison of the Malbork fortress and send them supplies.

In the second half of October Szumborski undertook a trip to Chełmno. A significant group of Che³mno citizens, embittered with the decline of the town”s economy and importance and disliking Casimir IV, who had not granted Che³mno privileges similar to those of Gdañsk, Elbl±g and Toruñ, expressed their willingness to reestablish the Order”s authority. They were led by a mercenary Mikolaj Skalski. Having gained its support, Szumborski captured Chełmno, one of the main seat cities of the Prussian Union, on October 24, 1457.

The retreat of the Teutonic Knights to Królewiec enabled an expedition of 4000 armed men from Toruń, covered by armed boats, to lift the blockade of the Malbork fortress on 7 November 1457. On 20 November the expedition reached Malbork and began the siege of the city. The effect of the consistent blockade and shelling of Malbork was the ruination of the city and the burning of the mills as well as the collapse of the morale of the starved crew, who began capitulation negotiations with the besiegers. The situation changed on January 19, 1458, when after reaching Malbork and breaking through to the city the relief convoy, commanded by Szumborski, the Teutonic garrison was reinforced and well equipped, with Augustyn Trotzeler taking command. The Teutonic Knights” expeditions ruined the ¯u³awy Wi¶lane, but the counteraction of Czerwonka and Scibor from Poniec resulted in stopping the Teutonic offensive in Powisle. The intensity of the battle for the town decreased, while on March 18, 1458 the besiegers repulsed a raid of 400 Livonian mercenaries escorting a convoy with food, forcing them to withdraw to Gniew.

However, the Teutonic Knights managed to deliver a part of their supplies to besieged Malbork by water through the Nogat river and – under the command of Szumborski – burned down the outskirts of Toruń on 23 March 1458. On 24 April 1458, the Teutonic crew of Gniew, in a skirmish near Walichnowy, surprised and defeated the escort of a Vistula convoy from Toruń by capturing and plundering all the ships, which, despite the fact that some of the ships were recaptured by the relief fleet from Elbląg, disorganised the movement of the union convoys on the Vistula, and on 27 May 1458, another Teutonic convoy with food reached the besieged Malbork.

In reaction to those failures on July 20, 1458 another expedition of the common march (20 000 noblemen and 600 Tatars from the royal banners) commanded by Piotr of Szamotuły began. After capturing the fortress in Papowo Biskupi the expedition set off for Malbork, but after reaching the besieged city they decided not to storm it and began to besiege it again. On the night of 15-16 August 1458, the Teutonic Knights captured the stronghold in Nowe and began harassing the union trade shipping from the second – next to Gniew – position on the lower Vistula.

In view of the unresolved situation at Malbork – the Polish side was not able to conquer the city and the Teutonic Knights the stronghold – both exhausted parties agreed on a 9-month truce, signed on 14 October 1458 in Prabuty, during which peace negotiations were to take place.

The support of the Teutonic Knights by the Inflants in the spring of 1455 made the conflict between the Prussian and Polish Societies and the Teutonic Order part of a broader context of competition for control of the Baltic coast. Denmark, ruled by Christian I of Oldenburg, interested in capturing the ports on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, having concluded treaties with Inflants and Lübeck in Flensburg, declared war on the Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian Union on June 1, 1455, and Danish ships began patrolling the Prussian coast. On July 14, 1455, the Teutonic Order recaptured Königsberg (the port of Knipawa), and at the end of November 1455 the second port on the Baltic Sea, Klaipeda. Thus, the Teutonic Knights gained the possibility of contact with their allies by sea and by seizing the mouths of the rivers Pregoła and Niemno and began to take over trade with Lithuania based on the Kaunas waterway.

In response, the Gdansk city council was forced in 1455 to issue capers to 13 captains of armed sea vessels, allowing them to attack ships going to and from Konigsberg and Klaipeda in order to paralyze Teutonic trade and the supply of food and armaments to the Order. In 1456. The naval war was expanded to include permission to attack ships bound for Inflants and Denmark, followed by mutual confiscation of Danish goods and ships in the ports of the Union of Prussia and the union ports in Denmark. In February 1456, the city council of Gdansk, after warning the Hanseatic Union, issued caper letters to 4 more captains, allowing them to attack Teutonic, Inflantic and Danish ships and raid Teutonic coasts.

Cutting off the territories maintained by the Grand Master from the Polish economic hinterland caused a significant rise in prices of certain goods, resulting in high profitability of trade. This induced Hanseatic and Dutch merchants to risk trips to Teutonic ports. In May 1456 an Amsterdam convoy heading for Konigsberg, commanded by the mayor Mewes Reymersson, was attacked by the Danzigers in the area of the Balga Strait, which resulted in Amsterdam starting military actions against the union fleet.

Repeated clashes over the Balgian Strait, combined with attempts by the Unionists to block it with sunken wrecks, cut off Elbląg from the Baltic Sea, with the result that Elbląg”s trade concentrated on trans-shipment of goods exported from and imported through Gdańsk.

In February 1457, a manufactured opposition expelled the national king Charles Knutsson from Sweden and restored Christian I to power on June 26, 1457. On the night of 14-15 August 1457 armed ships of Danzig under the command of Jacob Heine in the first battle near Bornholm broke up and forced the retreat of a Danish convoy going to help the Teutonic Knights (one ship was sunk).

At the beginning of 1458 Danzig decided on unlimited naval warfare and intensified the offensive: 21 letters of caper were issued in the spring of 1458 and 12 letters in the summer of 1458, and the ships were authorized to attack Danish and Livonian shipping in the Danish Straits and along the coasts of West Pomerania and Mecklenburg, as well as to raid cities and harbors in Denmark, Danish Norway and Gotland. The capture of 45 ships by the Danzig capes paralyzed Baltic trade and the Hanseatic League put pressure on the conflicting parties to stop hostilities. The armistice between Denmark and Poland was signed on 28 July 1458 in Gdansk, depriving the Teutonic Order of its main ally, although the truce was occasionally violated by both sides.

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Third stage of the war (autumn 1458 – spring 1462): Counter-offensive of the Teutonic Order

At the Diet of Piotrków in January 1459 the faction determined to continue the war gained the upper hand and the peace negotiations were broken off. The period of truce was used by merchants to resume trade on the water trade route on the Vistula and the Pregole, as the Gdansk council temporarily abandoned the convoy system to avoid irritation. It made it possible to deliver supplies to the union strongholds on the £yna River, but in the spring of 1459 conflicts broke out over the collection of tribute from the merchants by the Teutonic Knights” crews in Nowe and Gniew, Tapiawo and Koenigsberg and by the union stronghold in ¦wiecie. King Casimir IV Jagiellon forbade the purchase of security glyts from mercenaries of both sides and during the summer season river trade collapsed. Between April and June 1459 Duke Eric of Pomerania died.

Military operations were resumed on 13 July 1459 but were limited to skirmishes of small units in Żuławy (near Malbork) and Pomerania (near Lębork) – both sides exhausted by the prolonged war could not mobilise larger forces. Another armistice, not including Gdańsk Pomerania, was concluded by the Prussian states in Elbląg in November 1459.

The Gdansk City Council started to reorganize the convoy system on the Vistula, imposing a fixed fee on mercenaries of one Prussian fine per haul of goods and establishing a commission to enforce the fees. The Piotrków Seym, on December 18, 1459, enacted a ban on reselling goods to Teutonic Knights” fortress crews, as well as a tax on goods and on clergy income for war purposes. The governor of Kujawy and the City Council of Toruń obtained the right to confiscate goods from those merchants who made deals with Teutonic mercenaries. The guard of the October convoy to Gdansk repulsed the Teutonic attack on the ships and burned down the suburbs of Nowe in retaliation.

After Jan Ba¿yñski”s death, his brother Scibor Ba¿yñski became the new governor of Prussia. At the beginning of 1460 Teutonic Knights were the first to start military operations; a unit under the command of Kasper Nostyc entered the territory of the Polish Kingdom and captured the stronghold in Walcz, and a unit under the command of the Grand Master moved up the Pregolese near Welawa. The flotilla of 24 union ships under the command of Jan Skalski attacked the unprotected coast of Sambia and the Vistula Lagoon, wreaking havoc and plundering, but was unable to seriously threaten the rear of the Teutonic army.

In 1460, the Polish commander of the mercenary army Prandota Lubieszowski died. In March 1460, Oldřych Czerwonka, accused by Bernard Szumborski of breaking the rules of honour by selling castles to Poland, appeared before the royal court in Prague. George of Poděbrady resolved the dispute between the mercenaries, who were Czech subjects, in favor of the Teutonic Knights” commander, and Czerwonka was thrown into prison. Szumborski used the loan to enlist 3000 mercenaries at the head of which he marched into Pomerania. He was joined by the crew of Walcz, who burned the fortress after leaving it.

Before Szumborski managed to reach Malbork with relief, the city capitulated before the royal army on August 6th, 1460. In response, Szumborski divided his forces; the unit commanded by Raweneck attacked Pruszcz Gdański and burned down the outskirts of Gdańsk, taking over 300 Gdańsk citizens prisoner, and then conducted a raid along the coast of the Gulf of Gdańsk, on October 10th, 1460 took Lębork and Bytów, and on October 13th, 1460 Puck. The forces commanded by Szumborski crossed the Vistula and, based on a base in Chełmno, captured Golub on the Drwęca River (before September 19, 1460), blocking the castle, and on the night of November 10-11 his forces took the fortress in Świecie. Consequently, by the end of 1460, most of the strongholds of Gdansk Pomerania had been captured by the Teutonic Knights, and the main seats of the Prussian union – Gdansk and Torun – were directly threatened.

Casimir IV”s counteraction was limited to raising funds to enlist 800 mercenaries who were sent to garrison Gdansk. The command of this detachment was given to the burgrave of Kraków, Piotr Dunin. Despite the Teutonic successes, the convoy system allowed the unionists to maintain transport on the Vistula.

On August 19, 1458, the titular bishop of Warmia, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Enea Silvio de Piccolomini), was elected pope and took the name Pius II. Conflicted with Casimir IV Jagiellonian, he appointed Paul Legendorf as his successor. In October 1460 bishop Legendorf agreed with Grand Master von Erlichshausen about the neutrality of Warmia. The union crews of Pasłęk (Hollandt), Orneta (Wormditt) and Miłakowo (Liebstadt) in Northern Warmia, due to the lack of pay, concluded a truce with the Teutonic Knights. On October 27, 1460 Welawa capitulated before the armies of the Teutonic Order. Between January and August Legendorf captured Dobre Miasto (Guttstadt), Jeziorany (Seeburg) and Lidzbark (Lautenburg). The counteraction of the union fleet under Jan Skalski prevented the capture of the coastal town of Braniewo in April 1460 and led to a renewed plunder of the Sambian coast, but this did not prevent further Teutonic successes in the Łyna basin.

The popular mobilization of Greater Poland and Lesser Poland supported by Mazovian contingents, called by King Casimir IV to Kujawy, was directed to western Gdansk Pomerania instead of Lower Prussia as originally planned.

On the night of September 10-11, 1461, opposed to the continued basing of Skalski”s fleet in the city, Braniewo went over to the side of Bishop Legendorf, who immediately after this success attacked Frombork and besieged the cathedral held by the unionists.

During the night from 15 to 16 September 1461, Grand Master von Erlichshausen captured Frydland, on 18 October Sępopol (Schippenbeil) on the Łyna River and Kętrzyn (Rastenburg), and on 27 October 1461. – Morag (Mohrungen). As a result of the 1461 campaign, Lower Prussia was again under the rule of the Teutonic Order and Warmia was captured by Bishop Paul Legendorf.

The Unionists supported by royal mercenaries counterattacked at the Vistula Lagoon, forcing Legendorf and the Teutonic Knights to retreat from Frombork in October 1461, and in the night of November 29-30, 1461 unsuccessfully attacking Braniewo, where Skalski was wounded.

Initially, the intention of King Casimir IV was to direct the expedition of the Kujawy Common Moving, called in the early summer of 1461, to the Łyna River, to help the crews of the strongholds besieged by the Teutonic Knights and Bishop Legendorf. In order to do so, a bridge was prepared, on which the expedition was to cross the Vistula River. Eventually, the royal advisors demanded that the aim of the expedition be changed to western Gdańsk Pomerania in order to make an armed demonstration on the border of the Duchy of Słupsk, which was in chaos after the death of Eric of Pomerania, and to attack the fortress in Chojnice, through which the Teutonic Knights were bringing reinforcements by land.

On July 16, 1461 in Krakow, during the riots caused by his attitude, the starost of Chelm, Andrzej Tęczynski, brother of the castellan of Krakow, Jan, was killed by the townspeople. Upon hearing about the death and desecration of the body of the representative of the most powerful aristocratic family, the assembled knights demanded that the city be punished and threatened that otherwise they would go to Kraków to mete out justice. King Casimir IV sided with the nobles, promising to meet their demands, and the expedition crossed the pre-war Prussian border on August 25, 1461, captured the stronghold of Debrzno on September 1, 1461, and proceeded to blockade Chojnice, held by Nostyc. At the same time a punitive expedition to the Duchy of Slupsk plundered Szczecinek.

The lack of progress in the blockade of Chojnice, political factional fights and worsening weather conditions caused two important decisions to be made in September: to demobilize the common army and to pass a tax for further warfare with the help of mercenaries, which was advocated by the castellan Jan Tęczyński. Casimir IV withdrew from Chojnice and on 25 September 1461, at the convention of Prussian states in Bydgoszcz, he apologised for the previous failure and presented a changed strategy of action, which was accepted by the unionists.

On October 16, 1461 the Prussian Union recaptured the fortress in ¦wiecie, and on October 31, 1461 forces arriving in Pomerania under the command of Piotr Dunin, promoted court marshal, numbering 2000 mercenaries, took by storm the fortress in £asin and, after moving boats from the Nogat River, the fortress in Sztum. On the night of November 11-12, 1461 Dunin and Szymborski clashed near Brodnica; the Teutonic Knights, cooperating with the inhabitants, took the town but failed to capture the fortress. Dunin”s expedition from Łasin brought supplies to the castle and inflicted heavy losses on the besieging Teutonic Knights. The Unionists managed, amidst fierce escort battles with the Teutonic Knights” forays from Nowe and Gniew, to maintain undisturbed convoy traffic on the Vistula.

On December 8, 1461 Raveneck captured Stargard, on January 6, 1462 the Teutonic Knights under Nostyc recaptured Debrzno, and on March 5, 1462 the fortress at Brodnica capitulated.

The final change of the political system of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish strategy of warfare, which had been agreed upon during the negotiations in the camp of the Chojnice common movement, was made in December 1461 at the Sejm in Nowe Miasto Korczyn. Fulfilling the promise made to the knights, King Casimir IV convened a court of nobles to examine the case of the assassins of Andrzej Tęczynski, contrary to the Piotrków-Wislicki Statutes and the privileges of Casimir the Great from December 7, 1358 ordering the nobleman to sue the townsman before the municipal tribunal. The court, acting on the basis of the cerekwicki-nieszawski privileges, sentenced to death the mayor of Cracow Stanislaw Leitmiter and five townsmen responsible for maintaining peace in Cracow. They were beheaded at Wawel Castle on January 15, 1462. At the same time, the Sejm of Nowy Korczyn passed high taxes to enlist mercenaries and continue the war with the Teutonic Order.

In the middle of 1462, from among the disputed territories, the Polish and union sides possessed only Orneta and Frombork in Warmia, Nidzica and Pasłęk in Upper Prussia, Malbork and Elbląg in Powisle and Swiecie and Tczew from the strongholds guarding the Vistula River. Maintaining communication between Poland and Torun, and Gdañsk and ¯u³awy, threatened after the last Teutonic successes, required the maintenance of a convoy system under the protection of armed escorts. The threatening situation resulted in a pro-Teutonic conspiracy in the Gdansk city council, bloodily suppressed by the pro-Polish majority of the council.

The Teutonic Order, deprived of its Danish ally in 1459, began with the help of Amsterdam to form its own caper fleet and warned the Hanseatic towns against trading with Gdańsk. In June 1460 the Teutonic fleet consisted of 6-8 ships of little combat value as the experienced crews had been hired a few years earlier by the Prussian Union.

Since 1460 the Prussian Union, on demand of the Hanseatic League, limited the naval warfare to patrolling the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and the island of Gotland and attacking only Teutonic and Livonian ships and those heading for Klaipeda or Königsberg. Lübeck in February 1460 sent three of its own armed ships to Pomerania in order to control Gdansk”s adherence to the truce and fight off pirates independent of the conflicting parties. On July 8, 1460 the Gdansk caper ship “Lyckuff” commanded by Szymon Lubbelow captured three Teutonic ships in the second battle near Bornholm and three more were captured by Lübeck ships (“peace kogi”) in the second half of July 1460. In October 1460 the Teutonic Order captured new Baltic ports – Łeba and Puck. The Teutonic crews of these strongholds armed several ships and began a naval blockade of Gdańsk in the spring of 1461, capturing 8 Polish ships. In response Gdansk armed about 20 capers which were sent to Hel, Inflants and Gotland in the summer, chasing away the Teutonic ships and capturing 10 Dutch ships. The resumption of sea warfare provoked protests from Denmark and resulted in repressions against merchants and capers from Gdansk. As a result, the Prussian Union decided to return the seized ships to the Dutch and issue neutral ships with certificates for trade with the Livonian cities.

As a result of the mediation of the Hanseatic Union, on August 6, 1462, the Prussian Union and the Kingdom of Poland concluded a peace treaty with the Kingdom of Denmark at Lübeck, in September 1462 a truce was concluded with the cities of Livonia, and in October 1462 – a truce with Amsterdam at Bruges. In April 1463. The Hanseatic League directed four “peace cogs” against Teutonic ships raiding neutral ships.

In the summer of 1463 a caper fleet of its own, based on Skalski”s fleet from Frombork and the caper Jacob Vochs who had quarrelled with the Gdańsk city council, was fielded by Elbląg and after the truce ended attacked the island of Färö near Gotland.

The fourth stage of the war (summer 1462-1466): the Polish offensive

In the first half of 1462, neither side of the conflict conducted active actions due to the possibility of Czech mediation at the Głogów convention. Eventually, Grand Master von Erlichshausen did not appear in Głogów, and King Casimir IV concluded a compromise deal with George of Podiebrady on May 27, 1462, giving the Kingdom of Poland a free hand to act in Prussia. Moreover, Ulrich Czerwonka was released from Czech captivity. Only the Teutonic garrison of Chojnice was active, plundering Krajna in June 1462.

The Polish side used the time to gather and reorganize its forces and to enlist new mercenaries, for which funds borrowed from the Toruń city council were used. On July 1, 1462 the Dunin offensive on the Vistula began – under the cover of mercenary troops and court banners 300 peasants destroyed the crops near Chełmno in order to starve the Teutonic garrison of the city, and then the royal army repulsed the Teutonic raid on Dybów Castle near Toruń and began to shell Golub which was held by the Teutonic Knights.

On 15 July 1462 Teutonic and Warmian coalition forces under the command of von Erlichshausen and Legendorf in a force of 3000 men besieged Frombork. There was a conflict between bishop Legendorf and Grand Master von Erlichshausen about the cathedral in Frombork. In response, Dunin moved part of his forces to the Vistula Lagoon and with the help of ships from Gdańsk and Elbląg made an effective landing in Sambia, completely destroying Rybaki (Fishhausen) on the night of 7/8 August 1462, and on 24 August 1462 besieging Braniewo and invading northern Warmia. The fear of plundering Sambia and the conflict between Grand Master von Erlichshausen and Bishop Legendorf over the right to the Frombork cathedral forced the Warmian-Teutonic army to abandon the siege. Teutonic Knights retreated to Konigsberg.

This enabled Dunin”s army to return to Gdańsk and to begin operations at the end of August 1462 in order to achieve the main goal of the campaign – cutting off the remaining Teutonic strongholds in western Pomerania from Prussia. Reinforced by a 900-strong detachment of Gdańsk mercenaries led by Maciej Hagen, Dunin”s 2,000-strong army marched along the shore of the Bay of Gdańsk, pacifying Kashubian villages and cutting off the Teutonic garrison of Puck from food supplies.

In response von Raveneck and Nostitz gathered the crews of the fortresses Nowe, Lębork, Kiszewa, Gniew, Starogard and Puck, counting 1000 horsemen, 400 infantrymen and 1300 armed local peasants. At the head of these forces on September 16, 1462 they surrounded the fortified Dunin”s stockade near Świecin, building a palisade and blocking potential routes of retreat. On September 17, 1462, the decisive battle took place: after several hours of fierce cavalry clashes, the Teutonic Knights” attack on the Polish infantry broke down and von Raveneck was killed. The counterattack of Dunin”s forces led to the capture of the Teutonic camp and the massacre of the Order”s troops – about a thousand soldiers were killed, including 300 cavalry soldiers, 70 mercenaries were taken prisoner, Poles also captured 200 carts with cannons and battle equipment. On the Polish and Prussian sides 100 soldiers died in the battle and among 150 seriously wounded some died later in Gdansk. Among the dead was Maciej Hagen, a town councillor from Gdansk, while Piotr Dunin was seriously wounded in the hand and wounded in the thigh by a cannon bullet. The Polish cavalry in pursuit repulsed the Pomeranian unit under the command of Eric II of Pomerania. Only the remnants of the Teutonic army led by Nostitz managed to retreat to Chojnice. The defeat at Swiecin settled the war in western Gdansk Pomerania, decimating the Teutonic Knights” fortresses and breaking down their morale. Dunin took full initiative and captured Skarszewy on 30 September 1462 and Kościerzyna on 4 October 1462.

The successes of the Polish and unionist side in western Pomerania could not be counteracted by Bernard Szumborski, who lost a skirmish at Jasieniec near Nowe on September 17, 1462, and was unable to prevent the fall of the town of Golub, captured by Czerwonka on October 25, 1462.

After the defeats in the autumn of 1462, the decimated forces of the Teutonic Order in the Vistula basin found themselves in a stalemate and the commanders of the mercenaries, deprived of support and direct contact with Konigsberg, lacked money to pay their subordinates. Maintaining the Teutonic possession depended on the intervention of the Grand Master”s forces located in the basin of the Pregoła river.

The planned offensive in Gdansk Pomerania was hindered by the lower Vistula river, on the banks of which at the beginning of 1463 the Teutonic Order maintained only two strongholds: Gniew and Nowe. Access to them was blocked by Elbląg and Malbork, which were in the hands of the unionists and King Casimir IV. In this situation Grand Master von Erlichshausen decided to wait for actions of the Polish side and to counteract the situation appropriately and to reinforce the garrison of the key stronghold in Gniew (Mewe), commanded by Commander Ulrich von Isenhofen.

Using the gained operational initiative, Piotr Dunin continued his actions aimed at cutting off Gdańsk Pomerania from Prussia: On 6 July 1463 Czerwonka”s troops again destroyed the sowings near Chełmno, and on 27 July 1463 Tomiec from Młodków launched an attack on the fortress and the town of Gniew. Merchants from Toruń and Mazovia pressed the council of Gdańsk to make Gniew a priority target of the offensive, as the strategic location of the town above the outflow of the Nogat River from the Vistula posed the greatest threat to the unionist Vistula convoys. The siege corps consisting of royal mercenaries and contingents issued by the city councils of Gdañsk and Toruñ numbered about 1000 men and about 10 armed boats. The first assaults on the strongly fortified town and the castle, which were located in a convenient place for defence, were repulsed and the royal command decided to change the tactics – they surrounded the town with field fortifications and started a strict blockade from the land and the river side.

Since the situation of the besieged fortress did not allow the Teutonic Knights to hold it with the strength of the garrison alone, Grand Master von Erlischhausen decided to launch a relief operation. In August 1463 a detachment under the command of von Plauen set out from Lower Prussia and on 7 September near Nowo joined with Szumborski”s detachment from Chelmno Land to form a 1200 strong Teutonic army group from the south. The group bypassed besieged Gniew from the west and on the next day reached Starogard.

The northern grouping of the Teutonic Knights” army, consisting of 1500 soldiers and over 300 sailors embarked on 44 ships and boats set out from Konigsberg to relieve Gniew on September 7, 1463. Grand Master von Erlichshausen planned a concentration of both groups near Kiezmark in Żuławy.

Informed of the Grand Master”s preparations, the Union took action to protect the siege corps: The crews of Malbork and Elblag were reinforced, and the latter additionally gathered its fleet at the mouth of the Nogat River. Gdansk blocked the Szkarpawa River in the area of Zulawy with field fortifications and garrisoned the dam with 10 ships and 500 mercenaries under the command of councilor Maciej Kolmener (Matthias of Chelmno) and captain Vincent Stolle, and brought caper ships from the Baltic Sea to prevent the Teutonic Knights from moving along the northern coast of the Vistula Spit.

On 9 September 1463 the Order fleet carrying the northern grouping of the Teutonic Knights” army made an attempt to force its way through the dam at Zulawy but was repulsed after two days of clashes. On 12 September 1463 in Starogard the southern grouping of the Order was joined by an 800-man detachment from the Teutonic strongholds in Gdañsk Pomerania and the whole 2000-strong grouping set off along the Vistula to the north, forming a vagenburg on its left bank in the Czatkowy (Czattkau) area. Only a separate detachment crossed the Szkarpawa River and attacked the Gdansk supply convoy.

Fearing an attack by Elbl±g”s ships on the rear of his fleet, Grand Master von Erlichshausen withdrew on 13 September 1463 to the wider waters of the Vistula Lagoon (Bay of Fresh Water) in the vicinity of the Elbl±g Uplands, where the Teutonic forces were ambushed and deprived of contact with Königsberg by the fleets of Elbl±g, Gdañsk and Corporal Vochs, numbering 33 ships. On September 15, 1463, in a battle on the Vistula Lagoon (Bay of Freshwater), the unionists, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions and the quality advantage of their smaller fleet, completely destroyed the Teutonic fleet, capturing or sinking 43 ships and killing about 1000 and taking nearly 500 Teutonic Knights prisoner. Only Grand Master von Erlichhausen”s ship managed to retreat to Konigsberg with its survivors. Upon hearing of the defeat of the main forces the unpaid and demoralized southern grouping of the Teutonic army disintegrated and its individual units returned to the strongholds held by the Teutonic Knights and to Chelmno.

On September 29, 1463 the Elbląg fleet under Skalski”s command attacked and sacked the settlement of St. Albrecht near Königsberg. On October 24, 1463 the unionists repulsed von Plauen”s attack on Pasłęk. On December 13, 1463 Bernard Szumborski concluded a truce with King Casimir IV by virtue of which the towns of Chelmno, Brodnica and Starogrod in the Chelmno Land that were in his possession recognized the royal sovereignty. In December royal mercenaries, attacking from Nidzica, plundered Olsztyn.

Gniew, deprived of any hope of relief, capitulated on January 1, 1464. The operation in Gniew, victorious for the Prussian Union and Poland, decided the outcome of the war. Having lost the key stronghold in Gdańsk Pomerania, the whole Königsberg fleet and most of the army as well as the Czech and Warmian ally, Grand Master von Erlichhausen could no longer count on a peace treaty favourable to the Teutonic Order.

On the 16th of March 1464 the bishop of Warmia Pawel Legendorf surrendered Warmia to King Casimir IV by the treaty in Elbl±g and undertook to declare war on the Teutonic Order after King Casimir IV sent reinforcements to the territory of Warmia.

On April 1, 1464, the Elbląg fleet won the skirmish for the Balgian Strait, defeating Teutonic boats manned by mercenaries from Inflants, and on July 2, 1464, the Elbląg landing force under Skalski destroyed the shipyards near the Old City of Königsberg, preventing the Teutonic Knights from rebuilding their fleet until the end of the Thirteen Years” War.

On April 23, 1464, Gdańsk troops under the command of Maciej Kolmener blockaded Puck held by the Teutonic Knights, and Teutonic mercenaries from Łeba concluded a truce with the Knights. In June 1464 Teutonic capers from Curonian Sea captured 10 Danzig ships, but retaliatory attack of Danzigers led by city councillors and corporal Lubellow on Klaipeda managed to recapture them. Until the end of the war Danzig capers patrolled the Balgian Strait and Klaipeda Strait, capturing single Livonian ships trying to break the blockade and fighting off Teutonic capers.

On July 28, 1464 Tomiec from Młodków at the head of royal mercenaries began the siege of Nowe, the last Teutonic stronghold on the Vistula River. On July 30, 1464, a sudden coordinated raid of the Teutonic Knights” crews from the besieged fortress and from Starogard and Pomeranian strongholds defeated the union troops, inflicting heavy losses on them, but on August 1, 1464, Dunin at the head of 700 cavalrymen and 20 ships from Toruń reached Nowe, restoring the siege. On August 13, 1464, the besiegers were reinforced with royal banners and artillery and, after repulsing a tour de force, surrounded the town with field fortifications.

On 24 September 1464 the Teutonic Knights” garrison of Puck capitulated and the Kingdom of Poland also captured Działdowo. Not having enough forces to carry out the relief of the stronghold in Now, von Plauen tried to disrupt the siege with cavalry raids: 13 October 1464 on Elbląg and in the night from 30 to 31 October 1464 on Toruń. Both ended in failure.

On February 1, 1465 Nowe capitulated on honorable terms, and the Teutonic garrison of the fortress marched out to Starogard, which was maintained by the Teutonic Order. The Prussian Union regained control over the entire course of the lower Vistula.

Year by year, the Teutonic Order received less financial help from abroad, and attempts to introduce a new tax in Prussia provoked opposition from subjects and dignitaries. Unable to obtain funds either to repay debts to mercenaries or to obtain new enlistments, Grand Master von Erlischausen was forced to abandon any active military action and to submit peace proposals. The Teutonic Knights, reconciled with the lost war and the loss of Pomerania, did not want to agree to the final loss of Malbork and the control of the Nogat river. This demand was unacceptable to King Casimir IV, who decided to continue military actions.

The offensive action of the Polish side was stopped by an epidemic and lack of funds. Appropriate taxes were not enacted until the summer of 1465. The weakening of the Teutonic Knights in the Vistula basin was conducive to the intensification of trade on the Vistula, although the Prussian Union, fearing that the crews of the Teutonic strongholds, in particular from Starogard Gdanski, would still maintain the convoy system.

In February 1465 the Teutonic Knights” garrison of Stargard, reinforced by a detachment which had left Nowe, made two destructive raids on Żuławy Gdańskie. In response, King Casimir IV chose Stargard as the target of another offensive of the Polish army. Before the royal army managed to enter Prussia, the Teutonic Knights from Stargard, under the command of Commander Hans von der Salego, attacked the fortress in Tczew on July 31, 1465 and on August 27, 1465. – the stronghold in Gniew. Taking advantage of demoralisation of unpaid royal mercenaries who plundered the area, the Teutonic Knights took some of the crews of both castles by surprise, but the relief from Gdañsk and Malbork did not allow them to capture either fortress.

The attack on Starogard, delayed by lack of funds to pay debts to soldiers, began on 21 September 1465. Despite the siege, the Teutonic Knights managed to make an advance towards Pruszcz Gdański on 15 November 1465, and on 4 December 1465 part of the royal army withdrew due to supply difficulties. The remaining siege forces under the command of Gotard of Radlin fortified themselves near the town and the Teutonic relief from the Pomeranian castles was repulsed on 12 December 1465.

In January 1466 the last attempt to come to the aid of the Teutonic Order was made by the Livonian master, but the recruited unit of 600 mercenaries was broken up by the Samogitians while trying to reach Klaipeda by land, and some of the soldiers drowned in the Klaipeda Strait.

On the 11th of February 1466 the bishop of Warmia Pawel Legendorf declared war on the Teutonic Order and on the night of 10th to 11th of April 1466 the coalition forces of Warmia and the union commanded by Skalski seized Pieniężno (Melzak). Warmia was a potential base for the Polish-Union offensive towards Królewiec and bishop Legendorf became the leader of the party demanding a complete removal of the Teutonic Knights from the Baltic Sea. He demanded that the strongholds of Warmia be garrisoned by royal troops and used as the basis for an offensive against Konigsberg, Sambia, and Lower Prussia. In response to Legendorf”s declaration of war, the Teutonic Knights under von Plauen”s command (3000 armed men) attacked Pieniężno and then Pasłęk on April 22, 1466, but the assaults on both fortresses were repulsed.

On May 25, 1466, a sudden attack of the Teutonic Knights from Lower Prussia captured Zantyr at the fork of the Vistula and the Nogat river. The Teutonic Knights fortified the church in the town and built a bastion on the bank of the Vistula, creating a base against Vistula shipping. In response, the Malbork garrison strengthened the left bank of the Nogat river.

At the turn of June and July 1466 another Teutonic raid from Królewiec (600 soldiers) on Warmia destroyed crops in the area of Orneta, Lidzbark and Pieniężno but an attempt to force the surrender of Pieniężno by besieging the town failed. The Gdańsk-Elbląg-Frombork coalition fleet under Skalski”s command carried out a diversion on the coast of Sambia and near Konigsberg, forcing the Teutonic Knights to retreat to Bartoszyce. After the Teutonic Knights withdrew, the crews of the union towns made retaliatory raids into Lower Prussia.

In May 1466, the Teutonic-Knights siege troops around Stargard were reinforced with 300 mercenaries and completely closed the siege ring on July 23, 1466. The following night the Teutonic Knights” garrison of the town broke through to Chojnice and Zantyr, abandoning their stockade, which allowed Gotard of Radlin to garrison Stargard with royal forces. Upon hearing the news of the fall of Stargard, the Teutonic Kiszew fortress crew surrendered the castle to King Casimir IV.

In August 1466 union mercenaries from Malbork began their actions against the Teutonic Knights” garrison of Zantyr but until August 10, 1466 the Teutonic Knights repulsed all the attacks inflicting heavy losses on the unionists. On 10 September 1466, after the arrival of reinforcements from Malbork, Gniew, Nowe and Tczew and armed boats, the fighting resumed. On September 16, 1466, the Teutonic relief from Przezmark (Preußisch Mark) broke the siege and allowed the Order to burn down Zantir and retreat to Kwidzyn.

On 29 July 1466 a well-prepared expedition of 5000 men (royal mercenaries supported by court banners and private banners from Wielkopolska) under Dunin”s command began a decisive campaign against Chojnice – the last Teutonic stronghold in Pomerania. The town was surrounded by fortifications and the Teutonic Knights” attempt to break them was repulsed on 17 September 1466. The subsequent assault ended with the destruction of a large part of the town and the surrender of the Teutonic Knights on September 28, 1466 on honorable conditions. The capture of Chojnice determined the outcome of the war in Pomerania.

On 11 October 1466, Duke Eric II of Pomerania bought Lębork and Bytów from the Teutonic Knights, again taking both towns under his fief.

Also read, biographies – Pliny the Elder

Peace negotiations

The Kingdom of Poland was exhausted by the long and costly war, the nobility was reluctant to agree to further funding of the army. The exhaustion of the forces of both sides in mid-1466 was aggravated by an epidemic, particularly dangerous in the cities, which resulted in the adoption of the view that there was no point in conducting further costly and difficult sieges. In the surroundings of King Casimir IV, the view that the incorporation of the whole monastic state exceeded the capabilities of the Polish Kingdom was gaining the upper hand, and the influence of the Prussian Union in the eastern part of the country was much weaker than in Pomerania. This determined the decision to limit the Polish territorial claims to Pomerania, Powisle, the Chelmno Land controlled by Szumborski, and Warmia controlled by Bishop Paweł Legendorf.

A favorable climate for peace negotiations was created by the diplomatic action of the new Pope Paul II, whose aim was to include Poland in the anti-Czech coalition of Catholic states. As a mediator between Kraków and Königsberg, the Pope appointed an experienced mediator, Bishop Rudolf of Rüdesheim of Lavantin, whose aim was to bring about the realisation of the legitimate territorial claims of the Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian states, while preserving the far-reaching independence of the rest of the monastic state.

The final talks in Toruń started on 8 September 1466. Legate Rudolf of Rüdesheim, having agreed the terms of peace with King Casimir IV, presented them to the Teutonic Knights” delegation waiting in Chełmno as a basis for negotiations, at the same time threatening not to recognise the peace thus agreed upon if the Kingdom of Poland did not engage in the anti-Czech crusade. The negotiations concerned the question of the territorial affiliation of the Powisle region and the degree of independence of the Teutonic Order from the Kingdom of Poland. The decisive victory of the Poles and the unionists at Chojnice, captured after a short siege, weakened the Teutonic Knights” negotiating position to such an extent that on 10 October 1466 Grand Master von Erlichshausen decided to come to the royal area to Toruń and make concessions. On October 19, 1466, after 26 days of negotiations, the Second Peace of Toruń was solemnly sworn in at the Artus Court in Toruń.

Also read, biographies – Philip II of Spain

Second Peace of Thorn

Once again the results of the negotiations did not reflect the actual advantage of the Poles over the Teutonic Knights, but it was enough to eliminate the Order from the group of important powers in Europe at that time. Only the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order concluded the Peace of Torun with the Kingdom of Poland and its fiefs – the Dukes of Mazovia, Prince Eric II of Pomerania, the Governor of Moldavia, Bishop Legendorf and the Warmia Chapter. The principle adopted in the act of submission of the Prussian States to the Crown from 1454 was preserved, namely, the incorporation of all Prussian lands into the Kingdom of Poland. The territorial sovereignty of the Order preserved in the eastern provinces of Prussia was subject to the authority of the Polish king, however, without the act of investiture typical for fief relations. Ludwig von Erlichshausen took an oath of allegiance on the day of signing the Peace of Toruń, and each subsequent Grand Master was obliged to take it within six months from the day of his election.

The Teutonic Order gave up its independent foreign policy, without the consent of Poland it could not wage war against the Catholics and was obliged to provide armed assistance to the Kingdom of Poland. At the same time, the canonical principle of electing the Grand Master independently of the will of the Polish king was preserved, the independence of the Order”s ecclesiastical institution and a separate judiciary were secured. The grand master became a member of the crown council and his dismissal from the office required the consent of the king.

The parties concluding the treaty avoided a precise definition of the principle of fief subjection of Prussia, leaving the formal sovereignty over the lands of the Order to the Pope. This gave a legal pretext for the Pope”s interference in Prussian affairs and constituted a concession, won by the 13-year resistance of the Order, to the act of incorporation of Poland in 1454.

The Treaty of Torun established the principle of free return of burghers and nobles to their own estates, choice of residence, and amnesty of the subjects of both sides of the conflict.

The new lands were divided into three provinces: Chelmno, Pomeranian and Elblag (later Malbork). In 1467, making the system of Prussia similar to that of the Crown, the governor”s office was abolished and town and land courts were introduced.

The so-called Royal Prussia was incorporated directly into the Kingdom of Poland, consisting of provinces lost in the 14th century: the land of Micha³ów, Che³mno land with Toruñ and Gdañsk Pomorze, as well as parts of Prussia proper and Pomezania: ¯u³awy with Malbork, Elbl±g and Tolkmicko, and Dzierzgoñ. The whole Warmia bishopric with Lidzbark and Olsztyn also came under the Kingdom”s authority. Royal Prussia gained autonomy, its own district parliament, and offices were to be filled only by the inhabitants of the districts.

The remnants of the Teutonic Knights” state were left to the authority of the grand masters, consisting mainly of its eastern part – Lower Prussia and Sambia, part of Upper Prussia and a strip of Pomezania separating Warmia from the Chelmno Land, including Dzialdowo and Kwidzyn on the Vistula River, the so-called Teutonic Prussia. The Order retained the mouth of the Niemen River and revenues from Lithuanian trade, as well as sovereignty over the bishopric of Pomezania.

In view of the inability of both King Casimir IV and Grand Master von Erlichshausen to continue direct military operations, as well as advances in the military field that made the levée en masse anachronistic and ineffective, the war”s outcome was determined by the need for financial resources to pay for expensive professional mercenary troops. The annual cost of enlisting a mercenary was then 40 Hungarian gold.

Lack of money prevented Casimir IV from finally beating the defeated Teutonic Knights and liquidating the Prussian state.

Also read, biographies – Édouard Piette

Polish-Union website

The war expenses of the Kingdom of Poland amounted to about 1.2-1.3 million Hungarian zlotys from special taxes, loans from the Cracow burghers and magnates. Additionally, in 1455 the middle nobility imposed a special tax on the clergy, who had not been obliged to pay taxes so far.

These costs were enormous in view of the fact that the annual income of the royal treasury amounted to only 90 000 Hungarian zlotys and was further reduced during the war as a result of pledging part of the income to secure the repayment of loans for the redemption of the Prussian fortresses. The expenses of the Prussian Union amounted to over 207 tons of silver, and the expenses of the Kingdom of Poland from extraordinary taxes finally amounted to over 311 tons of silver.

Teutonic side

More difficult to estimate are the expenses of the Teutonic Order, which in the face of adopting a defensive strategy bore lower costs, skilfully allocating its own, received from German possessions and borrowed funds to regain the support of some towns and knights of Lower Prussia. In the last phase of the war the exhausted Teutonic Knights could not undertake any active defense. The total expenses of the Order for the war could have amounted to about 1.1-1.2 million Hungarian zlotys, or the equivalent of 300 tons of silver.

The state of the Teutonic Order was completely ruined, both as a result of the expenses incurred for mercenaries and as a result of the destruction of towns and depopulation resulting from warfare. King Casimir IV recognized this by agreeing to release the Order for 20 years from providing armed assistance guaranteed to the Kingdom of Poland by the peace treaty concluded in Torun and by paying off part of the debts of the Teutonic mercenaries.

Also read, history – Abbasid–Carolingian alliance

Return of the Polish Kingdom to the sea

The main territorial and economic result of the war was that Poland regained access to the Baltic Sea. The fall of Constantinople resulted in the progressive closure of trade routes leading from the Crown (Poland) to western Europe via the Black Sea and made the possibility of trade dependent on possession of the Vistula estuary and access to the Baltic Sea.

The Teutonic Order, relinquishing in the peace treaty the Vistula river basin except for Pomezania with Kwidzyn, lost its income and the possibility to control the Vistula trade, but retaining Königsberg and Memel it could still derive income from Lithuanian trade based on the Niemen river.

The entire course of the Vistula river became part of Poland”s borders and its entire river basin system was brought under one political authority. The increase in demand for raw materials in Western Europe in the second half of the 15th century coincided with an increased possibility of supplies from Poland, which contributed to a dizzying pace of trade along the Vistula and a significant growth in grain exports, which in the following years dominated the Polish economy.

As a result of privileges gained during the war and temporary blocking of the trade route through Elblag, Polish sea trade concentrated in Gdansk. The city retained its right of exclusive commercial intermediation from 1442, extending its privileges to include the right to control shipping and collect taxes. Poland”s authority over the Vistula estuary remained severely limited. Gdansk”s profits from exclusive trade intermediation enabled the city to grow to become the largest and richest city in Poland, retaining its multiculturalism and far-reaching independence.

Also read, biographies – Charles Lindbergh

Disintegration of the Teutonic Order

Despite the formal incorporation to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland on a fief basis of the lands left in the territorial authority of the Grand Masters – Prussia – the Teutonic Order remained largely independent. The King of Poland promised not to interfere in the selection of successive Grand Masters, although he imposed the condition of admitting Poles to the Order. Despite the imprecise provisions of the peace concerning the degree of subordination to the Crown, the Order was forced to resign from its independent foreign policy and give military aid to the Crown.

These conditions sealed the disintegration of the Teutonic Order into separate developing districts – the goal of the Teutonic Prussians for the next years remained the pursuit of retaliation against the Crown and the abrogation of the provisions of the Second Peace of Thorn. Inflants were left alone. The leaders of the former Livonian state, who could not count on help from the defeated Teutonic Prussia, began a policy of rapprochement with the Jagiellonian Union in order to conclude a defensive alliance against Moscow.

Only the bailiwick of the Order in Germany, which still recognized the supremacy of the Emperor, remained independent.

Also read, biographies – Willem de Kooning

War in literature

The breakthrough events of the war – regaining Pomerania by the Crown and capturing Malbork – are mentioned in the last chapter of “Krzyżacy” by Henryk Sienkiewicz. The final fragment of the war is the background of Władysław Strumski”s novel ”Śladami Grunwaldu”. The battle of Swiecin together with the preceding events of the war was literarily presented by Stefan Zeromski in his novel “Wiatr od morza”.

War in culture

Individual episodes of the Thirteen Years” War are commemorated by cyclical events. In Krokowa commune there is an annual re-enactment of the battle of Swiecino, which was victorious for the Polish side. A similar event combined with a tournament of knightly teams takes place near Chojnice, however in a different place than the later built-up historical battlefield. Until 2014, a re-enactment of the great victory of the fleet of the Prussian Union on the Bay of Freshwater, combined with an exhibition and a fair, was organized in Suchacz.

Sources

Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466)

Summary

Polish-Teutonic conflict over Pomerania

The consequences of the Lithuanian-Polish union

Weakening of the Teutonic Order”s state at the beginning of the 15th century

Prussian Union

The first phase of the uprising – anti-Turkish rebellion in Pomerania and Powisle

Phase II of the uprising – development of the uprising in Prussia

The effects of the anti-Teutonic Knights uprising

Christian Europe”s reaction

German Reich

Czech Republic

Scandinavia

Pomerania

Lithuania

The union-Poland side

Teutonic side

First stage of the war (1454 – autumn 1455): attempt to incorporate the Prussian state

Phase II of the war (1455-1458): the war of attrition

Third stage of the war (autumn 1458 – spring 1462): Counter-offensive of the Teutonic Order

The fourth stage of the war (summer 1462-1466): the Polish offensive

Peace negotiations

Second Peace of Thorn

Polish-Union website

Teutonic side

Return of the Polish Kingdom to the sea

Disintegration of the Teutonic Order

War in literature

War in culture

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